Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Gary Locke, former Governor of Washington and a Chinese American, will be nominated as Commerce Secretary. He will be the third Asian Am. to serve in Pres. Obama's Cabinet -- a historic high. We thank President Obama and his Transition Team for a most positive response to the main theme of 80-20's colored, full page ad in the Washington Post -- "Asian Americansyearn to make greater contributions to America." See the ad for yourself, click HERE.

We want to emphatically thank those who donated to 80-20 Educational Foundation to help it buy this costly ad. Their names are listed in the lower right hand corner of this ad.

If one has enough to live on, what is money for, EXCEPT to donate to such a worthy cause in order to change history for the betterment of America and million of one's fellow citizens. At times, we must dream to achieve highly!

However, our major job is NOT done -- winning equal opportunity for millions of Asian Am. workers. Happily, there is good news on that front as well.

Hilda Solis was confirmed as Labor Secretary yesterday. Labor Department is what will enforce Executive Order 11246 so that Asian Americans will, like all other Americans before us, ALSO enjoy equal opportunity in workplaces.

Sec. Solis was born to immigrant parents who worked in America and were Union members. Her former Congressional district includes Monterey Park, CA and has about 29% Asian Am. voters. We trust that she will be very different from Elaine Chao, the Labor Secretary under Pres. Bush. Elaine Chao publicly stated that the reason that Asian Ams were lacking in the managerial level was because Asian Ams lacked tail party skills. Chao, wife of Senator McConnell of Kentucky, has of course ample tail skills. She refused to enforce Exec. Order 11246 for Asian Ams.

80-20 will soon be in contact with Sec. Solis regarding 1) EEOC's recent finding that Asian Ams were discriminated against as federal employees, & 2) Pres. Obama's written promise to 80-20 regarding the enforcement of E.O. 11246.

Be vigilant. We are now fighting the biggest battle for our community's future. Please do your share.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Regents of the Univ. of California have passed a NEW admission policy to replace SAT II (Subject Tests) with SAT I (Aptitude Tests). The new policy will begin in 2012.

The California Joint Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, a bipartisan and bicameral legislative organization, wrote the Regents to seek additional information. The Board of 80-20 Initiative, after 2 days of intense debate, in a 16-0 vote, with 2 members abstaining, passed a motion to support the said Caucus in its seeking of additional information. The complete statement is presented below.

" The 80-20 Initiative, Inc., which is by far the largest Asian American political action organization in the nation, expresses its support for the letter dated February 3, 2009 which was sent to The University of California Board of Regents by the California Joint Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. The Joint Caucus is bipartisan and bicameral. It is composed of all 11 Asian American elected officials in the California Senate and Assembly.

The letter urged the Regents to do a more thorough evaluation of how the changed admission policy, to begin in 2012, would impact low-income & minority students including Asian Americans. The new policy will use aptitude tests (SAT I) over achievement oriented tests (SAT II).

The letter also expressed concern that "No Asian Pacific Islanders serve on UC Regent Comm. on Education Policy & only one of the 26 members of the UC Board of Regents is of Asian Pacific Islander decent."

The Joint Caucus further intends to hold hearings and bring sunshine to this rather opaque decision by the Board of Regents.

80-20 is delighted that elected Asian American officials are sharing the concerns of the Asian American community in such a firm but responsible manner. We urge all to follow keenly the subsequent development of this issue, and appreciate the efforts made on behalf of our community by these elected officials.

They are Ted Lieu, and Van Tran, who are co-chairs of the Joint Caucus. Additional members are Mike Eng, Paul Fong, Warren Furutani, Mary Hayashi, Carol Liu, Fiona Ma, Alberto Torrico, Mariko Yamada, and Leland Yee who is the only Asian American CA State Senator. "

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1) Ted Lieu, a highly respected California Assemblyman and an 80-20 Life Member, is running for Attorney General in California in 2010. Ted currently leads the other candidates in fundraising.

2) Sam Yoon, a Korean American Boston Councilman who is the media favorite and also an 80-20 member, has announced to run for Mayor of Boston.

3) Time Magazine reported the passing of Xiangzhong (Jerry) Yang, 49, a former 80-20 Board Member in p. 15 of its Feb. 23, 2009 issue. Dr. Yang was the first person to clone a farm animal in the US, and was an advocate for the use of human stem cells in disease research. Flowers were sent in the name of the Board to Jerry's wife, Cindy.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Alice Huang, an 80-20 Board Member, has just been elected President-elect of AAAS. AAAS publishes the "Science" magazine & is one of the nation's most prestigious science organizations. Congratulations, Alice.

Ivan K. Fong, a participant in one of 80-20 Educational Foundation's projects, has been nominated to be Homeland Security General Counsel, having the rank of a deputy secretary. Congratulations.

Subject: An Asian Am. President soon?

Inspired by the election of President Obama, Asian Americans are running for higher offices.

Ted Lieu, a CA Assemblyman, is running for CA's Attorney General. Judy Chu, Chair of CA's Board of Equalization, is running for Congress. John Liu and Sam Yoon respectively city councilmen of NYC and Boston are considering a run for Mayors of those cities.

What are their prospects? Bright, we think. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."

An important relevant fact is that 80-20 has already cleared a severe & improper barrier to their successes and that of any Asian Am. candidate, since 1992. How?

A truism in America is that the higher the political office a minority candidate seeks, the more he/she is subject to racist attacks. In 1992, a Chinese Am. Alice Lai-Bitker and a Filipino Am. Christopher Gabaldon were running for county level offices in California. Even at those levels, they came under racist attacks by their opponents. Visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/news/preselect2008.asp. See item 9.

As a result of these attacks and similar earlier attacks against Matt Fong in CA and S. B. Woo in Delaware when they ran for the US Senate, 80-20 RESOLVED that

In the worst cases where the racist attacks have clearly crossed the line of decency, 80-20 will (1) help the attacked candidates with its resources so as to win the race out right, (2) aim to defeat the attacker in the next election, if the attacker wins that election, and (3) greatly publicize the name(s) of the political consultant(s) and his/her firm and boycott both, if the person(s) is from an established political consulting firm."

That RESOLUTION was posted on 80-20's website and widely circulated to Asian Am candidates. In addition, 80-20 advised all Asian Am candidates to "find a way to subtly make the above resolution known to their opponents," because "an early preventive measure is usually the best measure."

Result?No racist attacks against Asian Am. candidates had occurred in the 2004, 2006 and the 2008 election cycles!

That is how 80-20 uses its GROUP political clout to serve the Asian Am community and help make America "a more perfect Union."

To all Asian Ams. In Politics:

Please consider joining 80-20. The more you help 80-20, the more 80-20 can help you. A third party like the 80-20 PAC is in a much better position than the Asian Am candidate him/herself to turn the tide against the racist attacker. To join, go http://www.80-20initiative.net. Or send your check to 80-20 PAC PO Box 22509 Philadelphia, PA 19110. Thank you.